Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on February 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

  Feb. 12, 2011, Mystery Photo  
  Los Angeles Times file photo  

  March 20, 1983  

[Update: This is the set of “Swing Shift” published March 20, 1983, for a feature on a day in the life of Hollywood.]

Here’s a street scene that has been built on a sound stage, which poses a challenge for location sleuths!

 

  March 20, 1983, Day in the Life of Hollywood  
  Feb. 12, 2011, Mystery Photo  

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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14 Responses to Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

  1. Mary mallory's avatar Mary mallory says:
    February 12, 2011 at 8:21 am

    It’s a bungalow court. Chinatown?

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  2. Fibber McGee's avatar Fibber McGee says:
    February 12, 2011 at 8:35 am

    Pretty fuzzy foto but I’ll guess it is the bungalow court from “Swing Shift.”

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  3. Mary mallory's avatar Mary mallory says:
    February 12, 2011 at 9:00 am

    Day of the locust?

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  4. Mary mallory's avatar Mary mallory says:
    February 12, 2011 at 9:51 am

    They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

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  5. benito's avatar benito says:
    February 12, 2011 at 9:56 am

    Excellent guesses, Ms. Mallory. Could also be L.A. Confidential or The Black Dahlia.

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  6. Dewey Webb's avatar Dewey Webb says:
    February 12, 2011 at 10:28 am

    The Fortune?

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  7. Greg Clancey's avatar Greg Clancey says:
    February 12, 2011 at 10:47 am

    Why would they build this on a stage? There’s a million of them around Hollywood.

    Like

  8. Jose's avatar Jose says:
    February 12, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Swing Shift? Although I remember more room between the bungalows in what was on the screen.
    Day of the Locust is another good possibility.

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  9. Fibber McGee's avatar Fibber McGee says:
    February 12, 2011 at 11:01 am

    In response to Greg Claney’s reasonable question — they build a set to better handle the lighting and so on. That’s a tip-off that there was probably some action/dialogue thattook place outside the bungalows and in between them. I think I see guys holding reflectors in between the bungalows, probably helping to light someone coming out of one bungalow, or something.

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  10. Arye Michael Bender's avatar Arye Michael Bender says:
    February 12, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Sound-stages contain magic. There, all the elements are fully controlled in order to achieve the desired effect. The majority of Hollywoods classics were made that way. Even a hint of artificiality often aids the director in reaching precisely the tone desired.
    And all my guesses as to which film have already been reached by others here far brighter than I.

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  11. Dewey Webb's avatar Dewey Webb says:
    February 12, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    Okay, let’s cover all Hollywood court yard apartment movies of mid-Seventies/early Eighties and add Gable & Lombard, WC Fields & Me and Won Ton Ton, Dog Who Saved Hollywood. And Under The Rainbow and 1941.

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  12. Arye Michael Bender's avatar Arye Michael Bender says:
    February 12, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    Here’s a wild speculation: ‘The Truman Show’.

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  13. normadesmond's avatar normadesmond says:
    February 12, 2011 at 6:40 pm

    didn’t “the grifters” have some bungalow
    scenes? and there was “autumn leaves” too.

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  14. BarryOB's avatar BarryOB says:
    February 12, 2011 at 8:25 pm

    Victor Buono lived with his mom in a bungalow court in “Whatever Happened To Baby Jane”. I don’t suggest that this is from that film.

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